Trump, Democrats can take 2020 clues from midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — This week’s midterm elections offer revealing lessons for both major political parties as battle lines begin to emerge for the 2020 presidential election.

For Democrats, a string of statewide victories in Rust Belt states on Tuesday opened a potential path back to the White House. But President Donald Trump’s Republican Party found strength in critical states that often hold the keys to the presidency.

Perhaps no state offered Democrats more hope than Wisconsin, which shocked the party in 2016 by narrowly falling into Trump’s column. Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s narrow loss in his bid for a third term left Democrats optimistic they could reclaim Wisconsin along with other traditionally blue states that Trump carried, such as Michigan and Pennsylvania.